摘 要：随着经济全球化的全面推进，各国的文化交流比以往愈加频繁。禁忌语作为人类语言文化的一部分，在跨文化交际中最容易产生问题。因此，本文将从跨文化的角度出发，对英汉禁忌语的趋同性和互异性进行对比分析，并探究其隐含的文化背景，力求为跨文化交际提供一定的启示，同时提出建设性的在英汉跨文化交际中避免禁忌语的交际策略，从而引导英汉两种不同文化背景下的人们的言语交际行为，建立和谐的交流氛围，使交际活动顺利进行。

关键词：英汉禁忌语; 趋同性；互异性；文化背景

Abstract ：With the further development of economic globalization, the cultural communication among countries is more constant than ever before. Taboo, as a part of human language and culture, is most prone to incur problems. Therefore, in the light of cross-cultural communication, this paper is going to make a comparative study of taboos between Chinese and English and dig into the implied cultural backgrounds so that certain enlightenments can be provided to cross-cultural communication. In the end, three strategies will be proposed in order to instruct people’s language and communication behaviors, establish harmonious communication atmosphere and ensure the successful cross-cultural activities.

Key words: English and Chinese taboos; convergance; pergence; cultural backgrounds

Contents

摘  要 i

Abstract ii

I. Introduction 1

Ⅱ. Comparative Analysis of Chinese and English Taboos Based on Cultural Backgrounds 2

2.1 The Convergance of Chinese and English Taboos and Their Cultural Factors 2

2.1.1 Taboos on Death and Disease 2

2.1.2 Taboos on Religion and God 4

2.1.3 Taboos on Vulgarities 5

2.2 The Divergence of Chinese and English Taboos and Their Cultural Factors 6

2.2.1 Taboos on Privacy 7

2.2.2 Taboos on Naming and Addressing 8

2.2.3 Taboos on Color 9

2.2.4 Taboos on Number 9

Ⅲ. The Strategies of Avoiding Taboos in Cross-cultural Communication 11

3.1 Euphemism 11

3.2 Observation 11

3.3 Question-asking 12

Ⅳ. Conclusion 12

Bibliography 14

Acknowledgments 15

Comparative Study of Chinese and English Taboos Based on Cultural Backgrounds

I. Introduction

The definition of taboo can be found in many different dictionaries. Taboos are very common in both Chinese and English, which are closely related to society and culture. Different languages have different taboos. The differences of taboos between Chinese and English are caused by many factors, from history, religion, tradition, custom, agriculture, industry, weather, geography, to daily life and so on so forth. It is fair to say that language taboo is a mixture of all aspects of a culture.

Since the living environment of human beings is quite similar in some way, the taboos in different cultures tend to have something in common but still have their own characteristics, which are closely related to the society and culture. In cross-cultural communication, we all want to be polite and friendly to foreigners. However, one is inclined to ignore the taboos of a culture and transmit one’s own cultural awareness to another culture, which may hamper the process of communication.

Taboo has existed for a very long time along with culture and language, but the study of taboos started very late due to its sensitivity. Most previous studies on taboo are concentrated on language, euphemism and society, or the relationship between language, culture, society and cross-cultural communication. Sapir once put it that, “Language is a guide to social reality.” Being a cultural phenomenon, taboos were formed over the long term cultural foundation of a nation. Culture consists of many parts, including human beings’ material civilization and spiritual civilization. Not all topics can be taken into a conversation and not all words can be used while talking (Sapir, 191).Relatively speaking, the studies of making a comparison between Chinese and English taboos are quite few.